Still struggling with dinos, need advice please!

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TheReefDiary

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.05 PO4 is the issue.

That needs to come up to around 0.1 or higher.

The idea behind increasing nutrients is to grow algae to outcomepte the dinos for space. Yoiur not going to grow much algae at .05. If you read the massive dino thread, you'll see this is the typical recommendation.

Depending on the test kit your using, that .05 may very well be within the margin of error for the test and actually still be 0.

Are you sure it's dino's and not cyano? By the description of it not being on your rock and only the sandbed, I wonder if it's dino's at all?

Dino's typically cover everything, and do not just stay on the sandbed. Cyano on the other hand, can and will stay on the sandbed if your sandbed is a nutrient sink.

I've dealt with every form of dino's over the years, that's how I know how to treat them.

Pics of the tank would help get a correct ID. And if it is truly dino's, the microscope will get a proper ID on the type, and then you can form a battle plan.

While vetteguy usually give solid info, I completely disagree with his assessment of dino therapy.
also, would you recommend keeping it above .1 long term or is that for just outcompeting dinos then I can start to lower it back down to .05? thanks. and yeah vetteguy has been super helpful. but honestly I didn't give him much info. once I get the microscope hopefully I can get more concrete advice on how to beat them.

I have a feeling they aren't actually disappearing into the water column at night and are actually disappearing into the sand bed.
 

homer1475

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Purely out of curiosity, have you read through the massive dino thread in the algae section?

EDIT:
Sorry, just realized this thread was in the algae section.
 

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The dinoflagellates support group on Facebook is a great source of information and may help you Id and treat them . As far as how it happened most likely nutrients being stripped clean . I wish someone would of told me when I started this hobby that to clean of a tank is a bad thing lol
 

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Dealing with the same. Specifically Prorocentrum dinos. N/P both dropped to 0. Boom, dino explosion.

I've been dosing NeoNitrate and NeoPhos, I'm at now at about 15ppm and 0.15 ppm. Dosing photo and MB7 Daily.

Prococentrum like to stay in the sand/rocks and not swim, they can be coerced to go into the water via short blackout.

I threw in a Green Killing Machine that I already had in storage into the DT. It's rated at 24 watts and 120G per hour, which for my Reefer 250 should be perfect wattage and flow for my tank volume.

I finished by 48 hour blackout (just no lights, I did not wrap the tank..). I've now started dosing 3% 1ML/10G of H202 after lights out. It seems better, I think.. I'll report back after the five night of H202 dosing, tonight will be night 3.
 
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The dinoflagellates support group on Facebook is a great source of information and may help you Id and treat them . As far as how it happened most likely nutrients being stripped clean . I wish someone would of told me when I started this hobby that to clean of a tank is a bad thing lol
mine 100% happened from 0 nutrients. I regret not testing the week I was busy and they crashed. all a learning experience.
 
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Dealing with the same. Specifically Prorocentrum dinos. N/P both dropped to 0. Boom, dino explosion.

I've been dosing NeoNitrate and NeoPhos, I'm at now at about 15ppm and 0.15 ppm. Dosing photo and MB7 Daily.

Prococentrum like to stay in the sand/rocks and not swim, they can be coerced to go into the water via short blackout.

I threw in a Green Killing Machine that I already had in storage into the DT. It's rated at 24 watts and 120G per hour, which for my Reefer 250 should be perfect wattage and flow for my tank volume.

I finished by 48 hour blackout (just no lights, I did not wrap the tank..). I've now started dosing 3% 1ML/10G of H202 after lights out. It seems better, I think.. I'll report back after the five night of H202 dosing, tonight will be night 3.
I followed that exact methodology and unfortunately didn't do much for me. blackout worked for a bit but they came right back. I ran a uv during that time also. it's all a good learning experience honestly. and I'm transferring my tank in a month so will not let po4 and no3 drop.
 
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Dealing with the same. Specifically Prorocentrum dinos. N/P both dropped to 0. Boom, dino explosion.

I've been dosing NeoNitrate and NeoPhos, I'm at now at about 15ppm and 0.15 ppm. Dosing photo and MB7 Daily.

Prococentrum like to stay in the sand/rocks and not swim, they can be coerced to go into the water via short blackout.

I threw in a Green Killing Machine that I already had in storage into the DT. It's rated at 24 watts and 120G per hour, which for my Reefer 250 should be perfect wattage and flow for my tank volume.

I finished by 48 hour blackout (just no lights, I did not wrap the tank..). I've now started dosing 3% 1ML/10G of H202 after lights out. It seems better, I think.. I'll report back after the five night of H202 dosing, tonight will be night 3.
isn't dosing silicates the way to deal with the ones that go into the sand bed? that way diatoms outcompete them?
 

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isn't dosing silicates the way to deal with the ones that go into the sand bed? that way diatoms outcompete them?
I would dose Silicate for sure if I had the large cell amphidinium dinos, those stay in the sand/rocks no matter what. UV will do nothing for the large cell amphidinium dinos.

It's why a microscope is important to identify type.

In my case, with prorocentrum, there is possibility I can get them into the water column to be zapped by the UV. If this doesn't work, Silicates will be the next step.

I also ordered a small package of live rock and sand from TBSaltwater to introduce some additional competition and diversity, should be here within the next couple weeks.
 
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I would dose Silicate for sure if I had the large cell amphidinium dinos, those stay in the sand/rocks no matter what. UV will do nothing for the large cell amphidinium dinos.

It's why a microscope is important to identify type.

In my case, with prorocentrum, there is possibility I can get them into the water column to be zapped by the UV. If this doesn't work, Silicates will be the next step.

I also ordered a small package of live rock and sand from TBSaltwater to introduce some additional competition and diversity, should be here within the next couple weeks.
I think I may order a bit of live rock to add to my tank as well. my current rock has been cycling for 6 months though so that rock is relatively covered at this point. Pretty green with some hair algae currently growing on it. actually have to trim some back.
 

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I think I may order a bit of live rock to add to my tank as well. my current rock has been cycling for 6 months though so that rock is relatively covered at this point. Pretty green with some hair algae currently growing on it. actually have to trim some back.
I don't think I'll ever do a build again without some ocean live rock or sand
 

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mine 100% happened from 0 nutrients. I regret not testing the week I was busy and they crashed. all a learning experience.
We all been there including my self it's a pain in the butt you will get through it just takes time and finding the right combination .
 

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I went through 2 dry rock tanks in the last few years (will never do again). First tank I battled Dino’s for 9 months. They literally just went away one day. I then purchased 60 pounds of KPA rock and had it in sump and display. Did nothing. KP rock was covered with Dino’s shortly after. Amazing rock by the way.


current tank I was not going to deal with the wait again. I purchased an 8 strain phyto on eBay. In my 225 gallon with 60 gallon sump I dumped 250 ML a day. Kept skimmer shut off for a few weeks while dosing and once a week dosed 50 ML of MB7. After first week there was a huge decrease. Second week they are finally going away almost completely. It is a huge win
 
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okay here are some photos of the dinos under the microscope. let me know if anyone needs better pictures.
 

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